Death in the marathon exposes the fallacy of “overcoming limits” – 06/29/2023 – Na Corrida

I thought a lot about whether I should write about Bruno da Silva Teixeira. The 26-year-old’s death is already being thoroughly explored by the media. I have no interest in the details of this personal tragedy, nor do I care what audience this subject brings.

After a few days, I gathered courage and decided to address the issue. After all, Bruno died running, and running is why this blog exists.

If you don’t know the history, here’s a short summary.

Bruno was a collaborator at XGrow, a teaching platform created by coach and former presidential candidate Pablo Marçal, and currently managed by his partner Marcos Paulo de Oliveira.

XGrow is the digital arm of Marçal’s work, the controversial coach who encourages his students and followers to “overcome their limits”. Last year, in a tragicomic episode, Marçal took a group of employees and followers to climb Pico dos Marins, in Serra da Mantiqueira, on a rainy day. The group, physically unprepared for the task and surprised by the adverse weather, had to be rescued by firefighters when some of the participants began to show signs of hypothermia. Judgment was lacking, but luck remained, and the tragedy was avoided.

Marçal’s “educational” program, called “The Worst Year of Your Life”, takes participants through extreme situations. And it was in this context that, at the beginning of the month, XGrow employees were urged to run a surprise marathon in Alphaville, in Barueri (SP).

Bruno, used to running short distances, had a cardiac arrest after running 15 kilometers. Rushed to the hospital, he couldn’t resist and died.

I leave the legal and criminal aspects of the case to the courts, and I sincerely hope that this time they will not fail.

I wanted to deal here with the psychological part of the case. Specifically, I want to address “overcoming boundaries” and the power of “willpower.” I put both terms in quotation marks to reinforce the importance of the expressions and to register my abhorrence for them. I explain.

Running is not about pushing boundaries.

By definition, limit determines how far you can go. Exceeding the speed limit means breaking the law and taking risks. Putting weight beyond the limit on a bridge means exponentially increasing the risk that it will collapse.

We all have a limit. And we train to push that limit a little further. Training aims to increase our capacity, not overcome it. In running, overcoming limits means putting your health at risk. That’s what happened to Bruno.

A good runner is made with discipline. With progressive improvements, which are not the result of willpower, of overcoming difficulties, but of hard work.

Bruno was challenged to run a marathon. The distance of 42km represents a Herculean, almost superhuman challenge. We weren’t made to run so much uninterruptedly. After 30 km, the energy stored in the muscles runs out, the brain wants to switch off, the legs weigh tons. Running hurts, walking hurts, stopping hurts too. Facing the distance requires months of training and all kinds of support – hydration every 3 kilometers, in addition to the consumption of carbohydrates, salt and other supplements during the race.

In the legend of the emergence of the marathon, the Greek soldier Pheidippides ran the 42 kilometers to bring the news of victory in a battle against the Persians. After completing the quest, he died.

Well then. Bruno and the others ran a marathon without any preparation. Each one took their own water. Zero planning. A summary of what not to do. All in the name of “willpower” and “overcoming limits”.

Therefore, when you read or hear about “overcoming limits”, be suspicious. “Just want”, “with willpower you can achieve everything”. All of these phrases are variations on the same theme. A mixture of hacking and irresponsibility.

Sport is health. Don’t exceed your limits.

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